Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Ouch! My Aching Wrist! How Blogging Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Are you addicted to your computer? If you are not blogging, are you surfing the internet? Or are you updating your Facebook page, tweeting, sharing, emailing or texting? Do you read the news on your iPhone or Blackberry, and flip from app to app, too?
If you are like me, your two hands are critical to what you do. All day. For hours at a time. Have you noticed the following symptoms getting more and more of your attention?
1. Do you wake up in the middle of the night because your hands or fingers are numb? Or even your whole arm?
2. In the morning, do your wrists hurt?
3. Does your coffee cup shake in your hand?
4. Is your penmanship starting to look like a doctors?
5. It is harder for you to open a jar without banging it with a spoon?
6. Do your fingers feel tight or swollen?
7. Does it hurt to type?
If so, you may be developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, where the median nerve in your hand may be pinched from swelling and cause your symptoms. I found that out when I spoke to my neurosurgeon's Nurse Melanie about a week ago. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be caused by repetitive motion, like typing on your keyboard all day. (It can also be caused by genetics, such as a narrow carpal tunnel). Right now, I can barly gt out the ltrs…..
What can you do before resorting to surgery? Here are some tips from the Mayo Clinic:
1. Try wearing a wrist splint during the day and at night
2. Switch to an ergonomic keyboard, mouse and desk arrangement
3. Take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs like Advil
4. Get cortisone injections
5. Take breaks from constant typing (Yeah, I wish)
Your next step may be surgery to release the ligament pressing on the nerve. Nurse Melanie told me it is a 30-minute procedure with a two-week recovery where you cannot lift anything with the affected hand. The good news though- you can still type!